Stupid Tractor Tricks

   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #11  
Your last paragraph is EXACTLY what I think when I read some of these stories. Or live through a story! :cool:

The only problem I can see with having my drawbar in place is when I put on the backhoe. Certainly with the box blade there are no clearence problems and I can't think of one with the rotary cutter either.

I'll have to check my manual to see if they say when to remove the drawbar. I know it has a couple of different positions depending on load and one for "storage".

BTW, I think we all have our moments on a tractor, car, chainsaw, or whatever equipment that can hurt you bad and fast. My first Stupid Tractor Trick was on a MF 135 when I was 16. I was parked on a access road that was above the field I was about to mow. The road was about 3 feet higher than the field at that point. I put my foot on the brakes and started the tractor. It was either already in gear or I put it in gear and released the clutch. At that point the tractor made an very sharp and immediate left turn down into the field off the road. Scared me and my boss. Go get two pairs of FruitOfTheLooms from the box please! :cool:

What had happened was that my foot was not fully on BOTH brakes AND the lock lever had popped up so that the right brake was NOT engaged. So the tractor went in gear and I did a very pretty and very fast brake turn off the road and into the field. It happened in a second.

Guess what. I'm very **** about the brake lock lever fully engaging the right brake on my JD 4700. And this is why! :cool:

We really should have a series of Stupid Tractor Tricks. Start numbering them at 1 and go on forever. I think most people learn from these sorts of stories. I know I'll be working and will think about doing something but then think better of my idea when I remember what someone else had done.

It sure helps me stay out of trouble.

Later...
Dan
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #12  
Dan, you say you have dug a trenchy 3 feet deep all around the stump. Have you cleared out "under" the stump? That's what I have found I have to do to help. Seems as long as the stump is "sitting" on dirt, as opposed to trying to dig under it, the stump can be a bear. I don't want to sound like I know more than you, (you DO own a JD don't you) /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif seriously though, what I've learned is until I can see all of the roots, I have no idea of what's there and further, if it is the Gibralter you infer, obviously there is something holding it. Maybe it is the Dark Side of the force working on trees behalf?? /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

Richard
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #13  
Dan, you might want to try and dig deeper all the way around the stump. Then when you put your stablizers down only extend one all the way down the other just enough to stablize the tractor then with the bucket try to under mine the stump. This is a little akward for a novice but it sounds like you are used to your machine. We have done this with a few large pine stumps w/ tap roots, using a 580 case. If I didnt explain well let me know and I will try to explain it more in detail.. Other then this hard-headed stump sounds like you got it..
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #14  
Well, since I do have a JD, I HAVE to be smarter than the Blues and Orange types! :cool: And of course that is just the problem. I really did not understand what was going on until you hit on it. Its Jealousy against Green! Yeah, Thats it! Thats The Ticket. All the non Greenies out there are sitting there thinking, "Stump Don't Move! Stump Don't Move!" And of course it does not!

I knew I was not paranoid! They ARE out to get me! :cool:

From what I can see on this stump, I have gotten all the roots extending away from the stump. The out of the ground stump that looks really similar, shows the roots ending at about 2 feet in the ground. But these are a knotted mass of roots. They are thick and coiled and go all over the place. I think that is what is holding this Gibralter Stump. Well that and those "Don't Move Stump!" DarkSide thoughts that are floating around the Internet! :cool:

My neighbor started building last week and I was thinking of having their site prep guy come over and take out the stump. But the ground was so wet I did not want them working. If they are still around and the ground is drier I might let them have at it on Friday.

They have a bulldozer and a backhoe. They are yellow not green but I won't hold that against them since they are John Deere! :cool:

Thanks!
Dan
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #15  
John, you have hit the problem right on the head. I need to dig out from under the stump but I have not really figured out how to do so safely. The JD48 hoe is just physically to small to reach OVER the stump to get to the other side of the root ball.

Hmmmmm, but you did just put a bee in my bonnet. I have been backing the tractor with the stump centered with the stump. I think I might be able to offset so that I might be able to dig under the stump. I knew this was the problem I just have not figure out how to beat it. I dug a ramp into the trench so I could get my FEL under the Gibralter Stump and nothing and I mean nothing moved. I was impressed because the FEL has really done some work and to see it do NOTHING was interesting.

I think a 580 would move this thing. I looked at the specs on the 580 vs the JD48 backhoe and the 580 was 2 to 3 times the backhoe from what I could see. One thing that the 48 has done is educate me on back hoe control so if I have to rent a full size unit one day I won't be wasting my time learning how to run the the hoe.

If my truck gets out of the shop this week, I'll go after the stump on Friday.

Thanks for the ideas!
Dan
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #16  
Dan Humm sound like youve approached at some pretty good angles.. I like the ramp, thats a pro move.. I guess from your description the stump is "tall" if its not too tall meaning what was left from the tree being cut. You could push your dirt back in on one side and straddle the stump (height allowing) with your back hoe and dig straight down. When you get the bucket straight down from where you are sitting you should be able to actually dig under your back hoe. This is used on the yellow equip to dig under pipelines etc. I do not know for any certainity that the one you have is capable of this but if it is, this would allow you to again undermine this gibralter size stump.. But Iam thinking it is probally to high to straddle and to much of a pain to cut down to grade.. Just some ideals.. Oh and if you do hire somebody just out of curosity would you mind posting what they charge for it.. Oh I dont know if you got pics or not but it sounds pretty interesting, Would like to see it.
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #17  
Dan, When I had my Stump of Gibralter and was trying to dig "under" it (that sounds rather strange 'coz if you could dig "under" it, it shouldn't be held down) anyway, I would take the hoe bucket and get it near the stump and "flicker" the bucket back and forth to break away as much dirt as I could. Sometimes my angle didn't allow me to come directly at the area and space precluded me from moving the machine, so the flapping of the bucket using the outermost tooth to break away the dirt helped some.

I had never EVEN THOUGHT of digging down some to that I could bring loader into equation. Guess that WAS a pretty bright idea /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I just kept digging and digging and digging....(and digging...) just like a little single minded bulldog.
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #18  
Hi John,

I have thought of straddling the stump. I have avoided that because I'm not sure how much stability I'm going to have when I fill the trenches back up. The pine is cut fairly close to the ground but with the settling that is going to happen with filling the trenches I might have a problem with the tractor clearing the top of the stump.

But what I just learned from you post, I really should try to straddle a stump to dig out underneath before doing any other digging. That will solve my stability concerns. What I have been doing is centering the tractor near the stumps I have to dig out and having at it. This works just fine on little stumpettes but Gibralter Stumps apparently need a new approach. I think digging under the stump first on a couple sides before trenching around the stump will work better for my equipment.

I really should take some pictures and scan them. If I can remember to take my camera out this weekend I'll try to take some pictures of what I'm up to and against! I looked into getting a digital camera but they cost more than I was willing to pay. They were close to half the cost of the tractor armour kit I need to buy! :cool:

Visuallize a 24 inch pine stump a couple of inches above grade with a five foot root ball that looks to be 2 feet thick surrounded by a moat three feet thick. The moat after all the rain we had last week has a wee bit of water in it. To get to the moat you had to cross the mountains of dirt two to three feet tall except for the passes I used for my attack on the Stump Gibralter. I never realized until now that I've subconciously been building castles out of clay and stumps! :cool:

Who needs sand and a beach when you have a tractor! :cool:

If I can get these guys after the stump(s) I'll post the cost.

I really need to figure out how to dig these beasts out of the ground. I have hundreds to do. The average size is 15-16 inches in diameter and those are pines. I have about 6 oak stumps that are 36+ inches that have to come out as well. Those are on my house site but I have a few of these large ones here and there around the property.

Thanks!
Dan
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #19  
Hi Richard,

I tried to do the flick trick but the stump and the moat I dug makes the distances to large for the my back hoe. I think that is my real lesson from this conversation. Large stumps have to be straddled to dig under them before trenching.

I guess if I have stability problems after filling in the trench I can always throw some timber down to firm things up. I have plenty of that to use.

At least that is my new theory that I will try out ASAP! :cool:

Thanks,
Dan
 
   / Stupid Tractor Tricks #20  
Harv...I haven't read thru the many replies to your question, so maybe it has already been covered, but I think you are missing the point...the mistake you made wasn't that you were operating the loader from the ground (I do that all the time), the mistake you made was trying to lift from the side of your bucket...the fact that you were standing next to the tractor isn't what made your tractor tip, even if you were sitting in the seat, it would have tipped the same way...the trick is to not tip it over no matter where you operate the loader from.

Be careful.

PS: I have done similar stupid things when I first got my tractor...experience is a tough teacher...it gives the test first and the lesson afterwards...



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by ejb on 11/29/00 04:06 PM.</FONT></P>
 
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